7x09: Paulie
by Metrical
Summary: Paulie struggles in his life to maintain his religious values amongst his friends who get involved in drugs and sex. But he's about to learn to appreciate what's really valuable in life and that maybe there is an easier way to go about it.
1. Chapter 1

**SKINS – GEN 4 – SERIES 7 – 7.09: PAULIE  
><strong>**  
>Right! Here I am again, kicking off a new episode, mind you right now it's really difficult, cause although it's been over 24 hours, I'm still really emotional from the most recent episode of Series 6, Gracie :...(. Anyway, I'm back to writing, I've also started Year 11, so I've started my own Skins journey now! Not that it's any interesting, but yeah the workload will probably increase and so that will probably be my excuse for any delays on these episodes in the works. Now after 6.02: Rich's heartbreaking episode, I would love nothing more than to write an overly cheerful episode, unfortunately this episode is not all that, while there are still more cheerful moments to come with Gen 4 and even so in this series as we draw closer to the last episode of Series 7, we still have a lot of emotional mountains to overcome, so lets get stuck into Episode 9, Paulie.<strong>

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><p><em>Glorious things of thee are spoken,<br>Zion, city of our God;  
>God, whose word cannot be broken,<br>formed thee for his own abode._

_On the Rock of Ages founded,  
>what can shake thy sure repose?<br>With salvation's walls surrounded,  
>thou mayst smile at all thy foes. <em>

_See, the streams of living waters,  
>springing from eternal love,<br>well supply thy sons and daughters,  
>and all fear of want remove.<em>

_Who can faint while such a river  
>ever will their thirst assuage?<br>Grace which like the Lord, the giver,  
>never fails from age to age. <em>

_Round each habitation hovering,  
>see the cloud and fire appear<br>for a glory and a covering,  
>showing that the Lord is near!<em>

_Thus deriving from our banner  
>light by night and shade by day,<br>safe we feed upon the manna  
>which God gives us when we pray. <em>

_Blest inhabitants of Zion,  
>washed in our Redeemer's blood;<br>Jesus, whom our souls rely on,  
>makes us monarchs, priests to God.<em>

_Us, by his great love, he raises,  
>rulers over self to reign,<br>and as priests his solemn praises  
>we for thankful offering bring.<em>

Paulie stood amongst the congregation in a simple collared shirt and tie look, with his eyes gazing off at the stain glass windows. The words rolled off his tongue, as he already knew them.

"You may be seated," said the lead singer up the front. Peter strided up to the podium in his usual way.

"Greetings brothers and sisters" he said, "Please open your bibles to 1 Corinthians Chapter 7."  
>As Paulie took his seat he flicked open the bible at a random page and pulled his phone out underneath it to read a text from Dean.<p>

'**Where r u man? I got a roll of doobies ready 2 b puffed but I ain't gonna wait 4 u so hurry up'**

Paulie frowned and angrily punched in letters, **'I'm in fuckin' church, you can't keep a few for another couple hours?'**

His phone moved around on his lap, **'Man fuck church, what the fuck you doing in there?'**

'**Trying to pretend like I'm not a total fuck-up.'**

'**Fuck that come get squiffy X)'**

Peter continued to prattle on, "…saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in UNDIVIDED ATTENTION" He shot a quick glance at Paulie and then coughed, "Sorry, undivided devotion to the lord. If anyone is worried that he might…"  
>Paulie looked like a deer in headlights but the tension dropped once his father moved on and he leaned back against the pew.<p>

The phone slid off his lap and clattered on the wooden floor gaining a lot of attention, "Shit!" said Paulie in a half shout, half whisper. "Sorry!" he said to everyone, "Fell out of my pocket."  
>Peter looked back to his bible and continued to read, "…man who has settled the matter in his own mind…"<p>

His phone buzzed again with another message from Dean, **'Suit urself pussy :P'**

Paulie leaned back against the pew again and shut his eyes in frustration.

* * *

><p>Paulie stood behind his Dad as he said goodbye to the members of the congregation as they left the church hall.<p>

"Goodbye. Thank you for coming. God Bless."  
>A rather smug and short old man came up behind Peter. "Ah-ha! Peter! Excellent talk old chap!"<br>"Thank you Donald, it's interesting how sin, when so simple can take our eyes off of God in a heartbeat."  
>"Well yes, the lord knows what a bloody good woman can do to your eyes; make em pop right out! He-he"<br>"It's why we need to remained focus."  
>"Yes I remember, a lovely girl named Daffony in Vietnam, she absolutely roughed me up, had me barking on my knees! He-he. But no… no more promiscuous girls from Vietnam, I'm now a happily married man, and the best part is pop a Viagra pill on a hot Sunday afternoon and you get to have old people sex, the best kind! Cause it's pretty much all the time!"<br>Peter smiled, "Well… as long as it's all in the marriage bed."  
>Donald shook his head; "It's not always in the bed, sometimes on the couch, sometimes in the kitchen, one time in the shower while the grandkids were over, he-he, dastardly little buggers."<p>

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed the talk," said Peter.

Donald looked over at Paulie, "Ah! Paulie! You know Peter, your boy is such a treat, he is a proper young lad, well-dressed and knows how to serve his father!"  
>"Thank you, but I think he needs a bit of work with both of his father's both his spiritual and his physical father, then again so does everyone!"<br>"I'll tell you, what I'd do to have a nice young grandson like that Peter! My grandson is a proper cunt, if you'll pardon my Italian. Richmond! Get over here and say hello to Reverend Preston."  
>Richmond came over with his goofy smiled, Paulie quickly looked away, Richmond was the only other person here anywhere near close to his age, he had his eye on this girl who had about 5 or 6 years on him for sometime as she was one of the hottest girls he'd ever seen, but she'd gotten married at 19 and already had her second kid on the way.<p>

"Hello Reverend," said Richmond, "Excellent sermon, you were spot on, too many young and vile people these days getting involved in pre-marital sex, it's terrible, if only more people in the world could be like you sir."  
>"Well thank you Richmond, but it's all in the work of the lord." Said Peter.<p>

"All right, time to go home you pretentious twat, I've got to give the old dog a bone before she overdoses again. See ya later Peter."  
>"Take care Donald." Said Peter as they left Peter turned to Paulie, "You should be more like him you know."<br>"What Donald?" said Paulie frowning.

"No, Richmond, a healthy young Christian boy, he wouldn't gallivant around with your kind of friends."  
>"Do you have to bring them up every single conversation we have?"<br>"Well I wouldn't have to if they weren't so troublesome."  
>"They're not that bad!" said Paulie, "I'm not that bad!"<br>"You were texting during my sermon today!"

Paulie pursed his lips, "I still listened."  
>"What was the talk about?"<p>

Paulie paused and then clicked his fingers, "Distractions from following the Lord!" he said.

Peter paused, "it was on adultery, which is quite a distressing issue, how many of your friends are still virgins? Are any of them? Are you?"  
>Paulie rolled his head, "Yes, I'm a virgin and I'm sure some of them are too..."<br>"Home," said Peter as he headed out the door.

"Can't we go get lunch?" asked Paulie, "Go to a Burger shop or something?"  
>"Why would we do that?" asked Peter.<p>

Paulie shrugged, "I dunno, maybe just a bit of father-son bonding for once."  
>"You start bonding with your father," said Peter pointing upwards, "and I'll take you out for a burger."<br>Paulie sighed as Peter walked off.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you man, you missed out, there is nothing funnier than seeing ditsy girl rolling around with her head between her legs and noodles trying to take an imaginary dump on the couch and you were at church praying to Buddha." Said Dean.<p>

"I was not praying to Buddha Dean, I'm a Christian." Said Paulie.

"Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Homosexuals, People who shop at Thrift, we're all going to be judged by SpongeBob in the end ain't we so what does it matter?"

"Dean," said Ken, "SpongeBob is a cartoon sponge from a kids show, not a God…"  
>Dean laughed, "What fucking kids shows are you watching? Fucking Japan innit?"<br>"So!" said Paulie, "Hayley and Drew then?"

"That's right," said Dean pointing forward with the cigarette hanging out his mouth, "Mr and Mrs. Hipster, Blondie and Noodles, The lesbo's, You and Buddha, Me and my spliff, we're all sorted."  
>"You left me out dickhead!" called Kelly.<p>

"I'll ask the spliff if it's up for a three way!"  
>"Thing is Dean," said Kelly, "Me and the spliff have been talking it over and we'd much prefer it as just as a two person thing."<br>"What a shame, I'll just have to shag you later than won't I."  
>"Yeah fuck off," said Kelly.<p>

"Yeah, yeah…" said Dean.

"Seriously though," said Paulie, "Why have we got so many couples within this group, it's like... it's like…"  
>"It's like incest!" said Dean, "One of those little incest country farm families with about 30 kids, and while their Mummy's not looking they head out to the barn and start butt-fucking each other! It's like '<em>Ooo! Larry! Slide it in good ya' hear' 'Oh yeah I'm a rooting and a tooting to tinkle town! Oh yeah! Woo-hoo! Oh yeah!'<em>"  
>The group paused a bit blown back by the accompanying actions. Drew raised an eyebrow, "Dean, tone it down a bit yeah?"<br>Dean smiled, "Alright, I'll admit, I'm excited."  
>"Why?" asked Paulie, "Where are we going? I thought we were just gonna keep walking forever."<p>

"Nope," said Dean, "Fucking new pub, just opened up on Beckmann's lane and man it looks dope."  
>"It's a pub Dean," said Paulie, "It ain't that impressive."<p>

* * *

><p>They walked into the pub to see the roof way above their heads as lights flicked amongst the ceiling and wall, while men hollered, gambling machines whirred and girls in bikinis strutted pass with beverages.<p>

To top it off everything was modern and neat, like a high tech sleazy bar with a 50-foot screen playing non-stop football and Iron Maiden concerts.

"Alright," said Paulie, "Take back everything I said, this place is the shit."  
>"Yeah now your getting it Pauls, you know…" he said leaning in, "I reckon for a good amount of money, one of those girls will let you spunk on her tits out the back."<br>"How much you reckon?" asked Gemma.

"Gems…" said Claire.

"Haha, sweetie, I'm only joking. Your tits are the only ones I'd spunk on if I had spunk."  
>Dean burst into laughter, "That's ace! Good call."<br>"That probably wasn't meant to be said out loud," said Gemma tilting her head down slightly.

"But I'm glad that it was," said Dean, "Right, nuff fluffing about it, lets start the endless storm of drinks."  
>"I dunno," said Paulie, "I'm not sure I want to get totally smashed."<br>"Paulie!" said Dean, "You can't dog out on the rest of us! All pussy's together! Plus me, haha!"  
>"Yeah, I'm not sure I want to hang around either," said Drew.<p>

"Oh come on you bell-ends! You can't get to a place like this and turn it down!"  
>"Sorry Dean it's just… Holy shit they have complimentary skittles." He ran over and immediately put a handful in his mouth, "Oh yeah… I feel like I just had 10 orgasms in my mouth, this is probably worse than a drug addiction… sorry Hayley, but I've just rediscovered my first love." He said as he continued to scoff skittles.<p>

Dean smiled "Right, now that my boy Drew's on the table, it's time for you to come slam some rounds Paulster."  
>Paulie still shook his head, "I just don't really want to drink, I'm sorry."<br>"Come on man, one drink, one eency weency little drink, about the size of your cock, that one wouldn't even show up on a breathalyzer."  
>"Haha," said Paulie.<p>

"Alright, you have a massive 20 inch cock that satisfies tonnes of juicy babes, now can we please go and get smashed?"  
>"Sounds more like I'd impale instead of satisfy."<br>"Come on!" said Dean.

Paulie rolled his head back and forth, "Oh for fucks sake one drink you tit!"  
>"Yes my boy! Good work! HIT US UP WITH 2 PINTS WOULD YA?"<br>But it was surprising how quickly 1 drink, could become 2, could become 4, could become 9 and then could become some number that Paulie couldn't count to in his state and certainly not without his fingers.

* * *

><p><em>Alright so a cheery start which is good, all feeling good at the moment till I start think about Grace again :( Anyway moving on from my oversensitivity, not much more to say except Chapter 2 up soon! There's a lot of foreshadowing happening, we are coming very close to the end of Series 7 and 7.10 is going to be a bit of a bang to leave us hanging until Series 8, so keep an eye out!<em>

_Lyrics from 'Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken'  
>written by John Newton <em>


	2. Chapter 2

**SKINS – GEN 4 – SERIES 7 – 7.09: PAULIE**

**Hello lovely fans! It has been a while since I have updated, I went to Melbourne on the weekend so that came to some disadvantage in terms of writing, also my internets been terrible as of recent, I went a few days without it, now it only drops out occasionally for a minute or two, so lets just see how long that stays :S. Otherwise, let's get to writing Chapter 2!**

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><p>1… 2… 3! The shot went down and singed his throat yet felt refreshing in the way it transmitted all over his body. Paulie shuddered in his seat and then arched his back with his mouth open.<p>

"Oh yeah!" yelped the Dean, "that hits a certain spot in the throat right there!" he said while thumping his chest. He looked over at Paulie awkwardly, "That probably sounded a lot gayer than it should have."  
>"Keep 'em coming bartender!" shouted Paulie.<p>

"Ready?" they said in unison, "1… 2… 3!" As the night went on it got hazier, to the point where he wasn't overly sure who was surrounding him except Dean who seemed to be caught in the same kind of alcoholic blur of nipples.

Everything seemed to tilt away from Paulie as the night went on, it went from the bar to the pool table to the TV to the balcony and then smacking the concrete hard and then a suburban street.

Dean and Paulie stumbled along the street arm in arm, hollering out to the houses. "They don't make garden gnomes like they used to!" cried out Dean, "I swear they use to be buff, now they're just grumpy little fuckers who wank off to the milfs walking around in the day."

"You don't know half the shit you know you're on about you don't.," said Paulie

"I think you accidentally the sentence," said Dean.

Paulie burst out laughing, "It's ok we'll just ask this nice young lady for a blowy and a taxi ride home."  
>Paulie stumbled down the driveway to a house and began calling out, "Hello! Ms. Fellatio! We're here to see you!"<br>Paulie turned around to Dean, "Dean! I need to wiz, take over shouting."  
>Dean walked forward and cupped his hands around his mouth to call out as Paulie started urinating on the bush on the lawn, "HELLO! WE NEED A LIFT BACK TO MR. BUN-BUNS DRUG DEN!" he paused and then turned around, "I don't think there's any playboy models here Pauls…"<br>A man in his 50's came out in a dressing robe, "You!" he called out pulling tight on his dressing robes, "You young hooligans! How dare you corrupt this neighborhood, especially my house at this ungodly hour."  
>"We just need a lift, that's all, we don't want the blowy anymore, we only want a blowy from a busty teen girl, we'll looked pass the age limit or the look on the face considering were drunk, it's just preferable, but the whole old man thing is no go."<p>

The man shriveled up his face, "I won't be giving you a lift anywhere, I'll be calling the police that's what I'll be doing." He looked over to his right, "You there, young lad, are you urinating on my lawn? Paulie Preston? Is that you?"

Paulie turned around while still urinating and it ended up hitting the man square in the face.

"AHHH!" screamed the man.

"OH SHIT!" said Paulie, he did his fly back up, "Sorry, I'll fix that," he said, and he walked over to the man and licked up his cheek.

"Haha! You just licked some old tossers cheek!" said Dean, "Oh shit, Paulie! Leg it!"  
>Dean grabbed Paulie's arm and they bolted down the street leaving the man infuriated.<p>

* * *

><p>"RISE AND SHINE!" boomed a voice right into Paulie's ears. Paulie squinted his eyes tight in pain as the sound bounced around inside his head. He slowly sat up with his whole body throbbing to see his father looming over him now.<p>

"What did ya do that for?" moaned Paulie.

Paulie's Dad backed away towards the door, "I want you downstairs and dressed in 5 minutes." He snapped as he left the room.  
>Paulie smacked a hand to his head and slipped out of bed.<p>

He felt like a brick wall with feet as he tottered down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Sit down Paulie" said Peter.

Paulie raised an eyebrow in confusion and sat down.

"Do you remember what you did last night?"  
>Paulie looked up at the ceiling, "bits and pieces."<br>"Right, seems I know more than you then."  
>Paulie's eyes shot directly to his Dad, "What do you know?"<br>"I know that Mr. Lancaster rang me this morning, telling me that you made an absolute ruckus on his lawn at 3 in the morning, urinating on his shrubbery, urinating on his face and licking his face. What in God's holy name possessed you to do such a thing?"  
>"Listen Dad," said Paulie.<p>

"No!" said Peter, "You listen to me, because I try hard, I pray to God about you every day asking that he'll fix you, asking that he'll take you away from those friends of yours and back to him, but time after time you disobey me and you disobey him, it is getting worse… I'm inches away from pulling you out of Roundview."  
>"Don't you dare."<br>"Oh you better bet that I dare, because I will not go around saying that this is my son who acts like a ludicrous fool!"  
>"That's it, is it?" asked Paulie.<p>

"Oh we are just getting started boy-o?"  
>"No but this is always it isn't it? It's always what I've done wrong, what about the stuff I do right?" said Paulie sticking out his arms.<p>

"A good grade doesn't give you an excuse to go gallivanting about in pubs and clubs." Said Peter as he leaned against the fridge, "Though I can see where the behaviour originates…"  
>"Oh don't you dare," said Paulie as he rolled his head, "blame my friends, fine, they're tards who do the wrong thing, I know that. But don't you dare go blaming her." Said Paulie as he got to his feet.<p>

"Why not?" said Peter cocking his head, "you and her seem interested in all the same things, vile debauchery."  
>"That's it," said Paulie as he pushed his chair in, "I'm leaving this house."<br>"You are," said Peter "and you're coming with me."  
>Paulie snorted, "I am not."<br>"You are, you're getting your coat and you're coming to the church now." Said Peter.

"It's a Monday," said Paulie, "there is no church today."  
>"No there isn't, but I've gathered the congregation there, so you can issue a formal apology for your behaviour."<br>"WHAT!" said Paulie, his eyes nearly sinking to the floor.

"You can't expect them to just shrug off your actions."

"Alright, make me apologize to Mr. Lancaster, that's reasonable, but why do I have to it to the whole bloody congregation?"  
>"Watch your tongue!" said Peter, "You have let down the entire congregation and you will issue a formal apology to all the members there and one directly to Mr. Lancaster and then to the head minister… which is me."<br>"You've got to be joking."  
>"Joking time is over Paulie, and look where it's got you," said Peter leaning in close, "Come to the car now."<br>Paulie stared at his Dad in disgust as he stood in the hallway.

* * *

><p>Paulie's heart shook a little bit like a zoo animal as Peter opened the church doors and walked inside to a bunch of grumpy looking middle-aged people.<p>

"Alright, alright, settle down please, settle," said Peter, "I thank you all for coming today and you will be grateful that you did. I have with me hear today Paulie Preston who will be apologizing for his shocking behaviour last night, for getting involved with alcohol, devil-worshippers, vandalism, abuse and general debauchery."

There was a whole bunch of grunting and grumbling coming from the pews as Paulie stepped on the stage, but he himself was more infuriated but he couldn't tell which he was more angry about that his Dad had called his friends devil-worshippers or that he wouldn't even refer to him as his son.

Paulie looked out at a bunch of faces that looked like they wanted to hit him with a bludgeon, "Sorry for being an idiot," he said to them all.

"Is that it?" called out an old man from the front row.

"No," said Paulie he turned to a stern and snobby looking man to his right, "Sorry Mr. Lancaster." He then turned further to his right to where his Dad was standing, "Sorry Reverend Preston."  
>"Fortunately for you Paulie," said Peter, "We are in a place of forgiveness, and we all forgive you."<br>"Yeah right we do!" called out a woman.

"You disgraceful young child!"  
>"Absolutely despicable!"<br>"You should be banished!

Peter stuck his hands up, "Now, now, let's not have this, let's forgive like Jesus would," he said slowly lowering his hands.

"Slimy little git!" called out the old woman from the front.  
>Paulie scrunched up his face, "Fuck you!" he shouted out to her as she jumped in her seat, "Fuck all of you," he shouted out the congregation making their jaws drop in shock as they reclined into their chairs.<p>

"Paul Isaac Preston…" said his Dad in a mix of shock and rage.

"Fuck you too Peter," he said. He shook his head as he walked down the aisle, being stared at by faces who looked like they had just had a heart attack.

He pulled his lighter out of his jacket pocket and lit a spliff which he puffed rapidly in a fit of rage, and ended up tossing it on the ground.

He reached home and was about to enter the door when he looked to his right and saw the storage room. He lifted up the door and pulled out his bicycle sitting himself firmly on.

He placed his feet upon the pedals and began peddling off into the distance.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry that took so long to write guys, I got lazy, proper lazy, I'm going to try and be more efficient with this and so now this comes before homework haha. :S Seriously though I'll try and get to writing this more so you can get the full experience of the story. In other news 6.03 was a great episode, I quite like Alex, excellent character, it's good to see a gay male character that doesn't fall into the Hollywood stereotype, so I look forward to seeing more episodes of Series 6. Chapter 3 up soon.<em>


	3. Chapter 3

**SKINS – GEN 4 – SERIES 7 – 7.09: PAULIE**

**Ok, so, I have been incredibly lazy with this episode, I've barely updated at all and I feel like a major let down, everything's feeling a bit weird lately even though things are going generally good, but oh well, I don't think I really have much to say, so with that out of the way, here's chapter 3!**

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><p>Paulie pedaled hard on his bike through the wet road, it just seemed like the more he pedaled the more anger he could just get out, water flung up from the tires hitting the bushes to the side as he gripped his face tight.<p>

He rode down a hill and then stopped pedaling to let the bike take itself down the track; he let out a breath and then placed his feet back on the pedals to get up the hill.

Once he turned the corner into the car park he skidded to the stop as he looked up to the hospital to his right.

He didn't chain down his bike out the front he just leaned it against the wall and walked right on in.

An old woman started climbing down the ladder as she saw Paulie enter, "Oh!" she said, "Hello Paulie, how are you today my sweets?"  
>"Pretty shit as it goes Denise." He said raising his eyebrows and looking around.<p>

"Aw, what's up? Is that old bugga of a Dad giving you trouble again?" she said pouting her face.

"Him and his army of angels." Said Paulie.

"Never mind him, he's a stupid old tosser, here, I've got something you'll like. Have a look at this." She reached over to the right of the counter, "It's a balloon shaped like a stop sign and it says 'Never STOP loving you!' Isn't that lovely?"  
>Paulie smirked, "Alright, go on then, I'll take it."<br>"Wonderful" said Denise with a perky smile, "and the usual cherry ripe?"

"Yep," said Paulie grabbing a cherry ripe and tossing it onto the counter.

"That'll be 3 Pound 50." Said Denise, "Say hello from me will you?"  
>"Of course," said Paulie giving a quick salute as he left the gift shop.<p>

He hopped in the elevator and got out at floor 3 heading to the receptionist desk. One of the girls at the desk looked up at Paulie and smiled, "Morning Paulie," she said.

"Morning Lauren, she awake yet?"  
>"Yeah, Doctor McCoy is in at the moment, but I don't think he'll be long." She said.<p>

"Right, cheerio" said Paulie giving another little salute.

Paulie peeped his head round the door to see a woman at the end sitting up on the bed with the Doctor on the end of the bed.

Paulie walked in silently waving at her, she waved back as he put the cherry ripe on the bedside table and tied the balloon to the head of the bed with a bunch of other balloons. The whole wall behind her was lined with similar things, balloons, postcards, stickers, banners, the works, all with similar messages of affection.

"Sorry, if I could just have her attention for another minute then you'll be able to talk to her," said the Doctor.

Paulie shook his head, "sorry go right ahead."  
>"…as I was saying, your blood pressure is getting quite high, so I'm going to have another check with Dr. Carter about your meals at lunchtime cause I think that is the main cause, I'd also like to add in an extra session at physiotherapy, I think it would help."<br>"I'm already down there for 4 hours a week," moaned the woman.

"I know, I know, but we need to get your blood pressure down or else we could have another clot. All in all we don't need to increase your chemo, I think that's progressing finely, though the clump to the left of your torso isn't reducing much, at the moment it's not a major problem, but we could have to operate if we think there's a potential risk. I'm gonna run this down by respite later this afternoon and see if it's worth operating on, ok?"  
>"Ok,"<br>"Right, I think that just about covers everything Victoria, I'll let you catch up with your family now."  
>"Thank you Doctor," said Paulie.<p>

"Not a problem, my friend," said Dr. McCoy as he walked off out of the room.

"They're on my case about everything," she said.

"They're trying to help Mum," said Paulie.

"I know that, I'm not stupid, it's just… frustrating." She said as she slid back into her bed covers.

"Do you want me to adjust your bed at all?" said Paulie.

"No, it's fine, did you get my cherry ripe?"

"Are you doubting my dedication?" said Paulie.

"Well it has been a few days," said Victoria, "Has he been nagging you?"  
>"Big time," said Paulie, "and he's got the holy army on me now."<br>Victoria chewed down on the bar, "That's just cheating that is… you gonna give it up then?"  
>Paulie shook his head, "Nah… it's still important to me, God's still important to me… it's just that place isn't… so I'm not sure what to do."<br>"Well, you be careful with what's important, cause I know another man who decided that God was the most important and it fucked him up good, so much that he forgot Jesus' main policy, forgiveness." She said nodding her head.

Paulie sat down and turned to his Mum, "He still cares you know, he acts like he doesn't but he still…"  
>Victoria was shaking her head, "No he doesn't, the only thing he cares about is the bible, it's not just his top priority, it's his only priority and it's messed him up. Say what he will, he's not shunning me cause he thinks God's angry at me for cheating on him, he's shunning me cause he is still angry at me for cheating on him, also by now he's probably got blue balls."<br>"That's my Dad you're talking about," said Paulie with a smirk.

"Yeah I know, at least you didn't end up a total tosser, that's cause you got a bit of me in ya." She said nudging him.

"Behave you!" said Paulie as he laughed, "Come on, I'll get out the cards and start up Rickety Kate, this is an anti-Peter Preston zone."  
>"Hold up, hold up, hold up, call Nurse Breeley" said Victoria with her hand out.<p>

"Why," said Paulie quickly, "what's wrong?"  
>"Nothing," said Victoria, "It's just a bit of a shit game with only 2 people, also it's funny watching her chuck a tantrum when she loses."<br>Paulie laughed as he got up out of bed and walked out into reception. "Lauren!" called Paulie, "Rickety Kate!"  
>Lauren pushed her chair out, "Wait up! Wait up! Don't start yet, I'm on my way, Julie cover for me!" she called out.<p>

* * *

><p>Paulie slipped on his coat as he put the cards back in the cupboard, "Sorry, I couldn't stay longer," said Paulie.<p>

Victoria shook her head, "not your fault, it's the bloody physiotherapists working me flat out every waking hour of the day."  
>"Spose, I just can't imagine being in here every day on my own." Said Paulie looking around at the room.<br>"Better me than you," said Victoria, "I'm satisfied knowing that you're out there living your life to the full."  
>Paulie smiled and then kissed her on the forehead, "Love you," he said.<p>

"Love you too." Said Victoria.

"Be back soon, if the Pharisee doesn't gouge my eyes out." Said Paulie.

"Next time you see him, kick him in the nuts for me, and then tell him I still love him too."  
>Paulie paused for a minute looking at the floor and then back at his Mum, it was interesting the contrast of forgiveness and how the self-proclaimed righteous man was being the most sinister, "Yeah," said Paulie, "Sure thing."<br>Paulie walked out into reception and let out a sigh as he leaned against the wall.

"What's wrong Pauls? You look down in the dumps, you won three times in a row." Said Lauren.

"Well, Mum's in hospital for starters, Dad hates me, my entire church hates me and I guess I'm just an all-round failure." He sighed looking at the ground, "I still wanna serve God and stuff but… they make it so hard."  
>"Well that doesn't sound like how a loving church." Said Lauren furrowing her brow.<p>

Paulie shrugged, "what's loving got to do with church these days."  
>"Everything," said Lauren, "it should be everything."<br>Lauren opened her desk and shuffled through the contents to pull out a little leaflet, "This is the church I go to, in fact it's what a lot of churches now a days are like, so I'm not particularly sure where you're going, but you should come along, there's a youth service today. Actually you can just catch it if you hurry, it's just off Collins Bridge."  
>Paulie looked intrigued as he flicked through the bright leaflet, not at all like his churches ancient and dusty looking flyer, "My church doesn't even have a youth service." He said.<br>"Are you sure you're not going to a temple instead?" asked Lauren, "Give it a go, yeah?"  
>Paulie nodded as he slid it into his back pocket, "Alright I'll give it a go." He pivoted towards the elevator and then turned back, "Lauren?"<br>"Yeah?"  
>"Look after my Mum, yeah? I feel… I think she gets lonely sometimes, but she won't admit it." Said Paulie with a deep concern trying to peer into her room.<p>

"You think I wouldn't look after Victoria? Of course I'm going to look after her! What do you expect? And look!" A huge grin crept across Lauren's face as she slid out something else from the draw, "Monsters Inc. special edition on DVD! Your Mum isn't going to be bored tonight!"  
>Paulie frowned, "Card games, Movies, don't you ever have to work?"<br>"I started at 5 am, I clock off in 2 hours. Who needs to go home and watch television re-runs when I can heat up noodles here and watch Monsters Inc. with Victoria!"  
>Paulie smiled as he entered the lift, it was interesting how quickly his rage could fade, knowing that his Mum was in good hands.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Another short chapter, Sorry! And I'll honestly try this week to write more frequently, but I can't make any promises, especially since I now have to learn to drive :S and that's taking up a bit of my time. Chapter 4 up relatively soon, stay tuned.<em>


	4. Chapter 4

**SKINS – GEN 4 – SERIES 7 – 7.09: PAULIE**

**HELLO FANS! Alright, I'm gonna start off with getting something clear, cause I think I underestimated how much free time I have, now that I'm back at school, I don't think I'm going to have as much, so I'm going to have to say that I won't be able to upload as frequently in the past, as you can tell I've been a bit slack and so instead of getting your hopes up, I'm telling you now that chances are it's gonna be a bit more like it has, if I get the chance I'll do it more frequently, but I dunno if I'll get that chance. THERE IS GOOD NEWS THOUGH! My internet is back to 100%! No more annoying connection problems, which has caused some problems with uploading these, so that won't be a problem anymore, I'm writing you this chapter at 11 pm on a Sunday Night cause I've been feeling slack and hopefully I can write you a bit more this coming week, as we draw closer to our Series Finale. Here is Chapter 4!**

* * *

><p>Paulie looked at the colourful leaflet covered in spotlights and then looked up at the building ahead of him.<p>

It was definitely a church, but it wasn't a chapel like he was used to, it was a more warming building.

He walked up the pathway and into the church to find they were already in session singing.

He received a bit of a shock when he walked inside, it was nothing like the church he'd been to all his life. There was a big screen up the front being operated by two people up the back with a band and singers on the stage up the front, they weren't over the top rocking out, they were just playing, but the people in the rows were happily singing along as the words appeared on the screen, and the song definitely made the key difference to the place.

_Glory and power to the one who loves us, _

_Honour and praise him forever; _

_Come Lord Jesus, _

_Come Lord Jesus._

_Glory and power to the one who freed us,_

_From all our sins by his blood; _

_Come Lord Jesus, _

_Come Lord Jesus._

_See him coming on the clouds of heaven, _

_Every eye behold him now._

_He's the Living One, the first and last Who _

_Once was dead, But now he lives_

_Forever and ever._

_Glory and power to the one who made us _

_A kingdom of priests for God's service; _

_Come Lord Jesus, _

_Come Lord Jesus._

_Jesus is the Living One, _

_Who died and came alive; _

_Jesus is Almighty Lord, _

_Who was and is to come!_

_See him coming on the clouds of heaven, _

_Every eye behold him now._

_He's the Living One, the first and last Who _

_Once was dead, But now he lives_

_Forever and ever._

The song ended as the singer told everyone to take a seat. Paulie took a seat on his own near the door adjacent to the stage.

A young girl who looked like she was in her early twenties got up on the stage, "Good to see you all hear today, we're just going to have a bit of a welcome time now, so get up say hi to someone you don't know, or hi to someone you do know there's tea over by the book stand, so help yourself to that, we'll call you back in a few minutes."  
>Paulie sat incredibly awkwardly as everyone started to talk each other, it was the weirdest thing he'd ever been too, and he didn't understand what was going on at all.<p>

Paulie jumped as a man in his late twenties appeared to his left looking at him.

"Hey," said the stranger sticking out his hand, "Please to meet you I'm Chris, or Gunman as some people like to call me, not cause I wield guns! My last name is… Gunner so people call me Gunman."  
>"Oh… right, I'm Paulie." Said Paulie extending his hand to shake Gunman's.<p>

"Ah ok, so is like your name Paul and people just call you Paulie?"  
>Paulie paused, "No… that's my actually name."<br>"Really! That is not one I've heard before that's cool." He said, "So why are you here today? Sorry that sounds super rude… just like… what made you decide to come?"  
>"Um…" Paulie kept hesitating, "Just a friend… told me about it… Lauren Breeley"<br>"Ah! You know Lauren, well that's good of her, is she here?"  
>Paulie paused, "I don't think so, I think she's working."<p>

"Ok, well… listen I don't think we have much time for chat left, so come and sit over where I'm sitting."  
>Paulie laughed and shook his head, "I'm not sure if… It'd be a bit weird…"<br>"Just come over, it'll be fine, trust me." Said Chris with a smile.

Paulie paused and then nodded, "Ok."  
>Paulie followed Gunman over to a crowd of young adults all chatting, they didn't like obscure or out of place at all, not like Richmond. They looked just like the kids at Roundview, in fact some of them probably were, except slightly less promiscuous and a lot less like they wanted to punch his face in.<p>

"Guys this is Paulie, he's new a friend of Lauren's so make him feel welcome." Said Gunman clasping his hands together and gesturing Paulie towards the pews.

"Hi, I'm Lisa," said a girl turning around to face him, "I think I've seen you before, you're friends with Gemma and that aren't you? "  
>"Oh Gemma's group, da sick kids!" said one girl.<p>

"All da cool kids on da block!" said a boy to his left.

"Guys he's like right here," said Leah.

"Oops sorry," said the girl as she burst out laughing.

"No Gena," said another girl leaning over, "He's in Gemma's group so that means…"  
>Gena paused for a minute, "Oh my gosh! You're like friends with Drew right."<br>Drew smirked, "yeah."  
>"Oh my goodness, what a bootiful bootiful boy!"<br>"Get me some of that ass!"  
>"El oh el! Coot boiz dot tumblr dot com!"<br>Paulie looked completely taken aback in shock by the conversation going on.

He turned around to talk to a blonde guy behind him, "Don't worry about them, they are a bit more at the extreme end, you get used to it, I'm Perry."  
>"Paulie," said Paulie stretching out his hand still trying to get a clue at what was going on around him.<p>

"Ok, I'm Perry."  
>"You already said that."<br>"Yeah I'm Perry."  
>"Ok…"<br>"No, I'm Perry!"  
>"You're Perry…"<br>"HE'S ONTO US!" said Perry reaching his hand up towards his ears and raising his eyes.

"Is everyone in this place on LSD or something? Oh crap… sorry…"  
>"YES!" shouted Perry! "Haha no, we're just messing around, sorry, I'll stop now. I'm Perry," he said as he burst out laughing and Paulie couldn't help burst out laughing with him.<p>

"Sorry, ok seriously now, what are you into?"  
>"Um…" Paulie paused to think for a minute about what he actually liked, "Um… Drama… Video Games… Video Games again, those two are about it… uh yeah… there's not much more too it, I'm not much of an interesting person."<br>Perry laughed, "How do I know you're not an interesting person, I know two things about you, one of which I love, what console do you own?"

"Mainly I play Xbox 360…"  
>"Ooooo," said Perry as he bit his lip, "Looks like we can't be friends anymore, Hahaha, just kidding, I don't really care all that much even if I do own a PS3."<br>Paulie took a silent sigh of relief and continued, "But more often than not I end up just playing my Nintendo 64."  
>"Yep," said Perry nodding with a grin, "That's where the classics are at, Starfox and Goldeneye?"<br>"On top of Ocarina of Time, Banjo Kazooie, Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64, you have a six layer sandwich." Said Paulie smiling.  
>"All of it made of delicious bacon with a smooth Super Smash Bros. seasoning."<p>

The boys both laughed and then Paulie looked to his right to see Gunman heading up on to the stage.

"Oh it's starting now," said Perry.

Paulie heard a girl to his left, "Gena, Neil! Be quiet for once please!"  
>Gunman placed a bible on the podium and began to speak. Paulie frowned as he inspected Gunman on the stage, his hair was quite rugged, he was quite young with trouser and a beastie boys t-shirt on, but the most important feature was the clip-on mic attached as Gunman started to speak.<p>

"When I was younger me and my older brother Josh had a cousin called James, now James was a bit of an idiot, he was the guy who always thought he was a legend by doing really nasty stuff to people. He once skateboarded over a heap of my Dad's CD's and got in huge trouble, anyway so this one time, many years back when Queen Victoria was about, James was about 20 and he was quite a broad guy, and he thought he was being heaps awesome saying he could do anything, so my brother Josh says to him 'I dare you to slide down the laundry chute' and of course being a total dingbat, he does and he gets stuck, we called for Mum and Dad as they tried pulling on his legs and then we called the emergency services when he said he was having trouble breathing and then they had to delay cutting him out of the chute cause I started crying, thinking he was going to be cut in half, keep in mind I'm a little 8 year old so this is all quite devastating. The point is… we can often get ourselves trapped in impossible situations when we do stupid things, in fact sometimes we can just get completely trapped in every possible way, by school, by society, by family, by friends, by relationships, by everything and sometimes… we wonder what we did to end up here and how we could ever get out… Today's bible reading comes from 2 Peter 1…"  
>Paulie's entire body froze as Gunman started, to talk, it wasn't a wise old man talk at all, Gunman was speaking in an entirely different way and had Paulie's brain on edge the entire time, because it kept relating back to him.<p>

Paulie was finally snapped out of it when Gunman was by his side, "Huh?' said Paulie.

Gunman smirked, "Did you not listen."  
>"I think I listened too much," said Paulie.<p>

"I asked if you liked the talk."  
>"Yeah…" said Paulie, "It was unbe…"<br>Gunman looked at his watch and then held up one finger, "Hold that thought, I think we're heading off."  
>Paulie nodded, "Oh sure, I think I have to as well, you know just, my…"<br>"No, no, we were going to get coffee if you'd like to come, but if you have stuff on…"  
>"I don't really drink coffee," said Paulie.<p>

Gunman laughed, "you don't have to drink coffee you know, there is other options."  
>Paulie smiled, "Alright then, sure."<p>

* * *

><p>Gunman returned to the table where Paulie was seated at, "One large double mocha for me, and one medium chocolate thickshake for you. Actually you probably made the choice, coffee gets too addictive you become a druggie within weeks." He said smirking.<p>

"Yeah," said Paulie smiling.

"So was that the first sermon you've heard?" asked Gunman.

"At this church yeah," said Paulie, "definitely not the first though… my… my Dad's a minister."  
>"Really!" said Gunman gleefully, "that's excellent, where?"<br>Paulie paused and swallowed, "East Bristol Anglican."

"Ok," said Gunman, "That's very cool, I suppose that's where you usually go."  
>"Yeah, it's… quite different, I thought… I thought we would've had a bad reputation amongst other churches."<br>Gunman smiled, "While we may not agree with all policies, we work together because we are all working for God and so we love them as much as our own congregation."  
>"I thought you had to be like, really… old and wise to be a church minister."<br>Gunman laughed, "Ouch… I'm only 31, cut me a break, yeah? Nah, I went off to bible college once I finished, school, got my degree, did an apprenticeship out east beyond London then moved here and got a job as a minister. So what did you think of the talk if you thought it was quite different."  
>Paulie smiled, "I can't really explain, it was just so… wow, I've never heard something like it, you make me able to relate to it in every…"<br>Gunman put down his drink and held out his hand to stop Paulie, "I'm going to have to stop you there, cause it wasn't me who made that talk amazing, God speaks through me, it's through his work that I can teach you, I'm only a humble servant, we all are, so praise him, not me."  
>Paulie smiled, "yeah… God's work."<p>

"Well!" said Gunman, "if you liked it, will you come back next week?"  
>Paulie opened his mouth and then stopped, "I'm not sure, I dunno if I…"<br>"Ah I see," said Gunman, "commitment to your church, fair enough, very reasonable."  
>"It's not just that," said Paulie, "it's… I dunno if I'm really welcome here."<br>"What do you mean?" said Gunman, "Of course you're welcome here, you're welcome anytime you like."

"I dunno Chris," said Paulie, "I'm not really sure if I… I dunno how to say it…"  
>"Paulie, just stop for a minute," said Gunman with his hand on Paulie's shoulder, "Look at Perry, look at Neil, look at Gena, that lot are insane, there is nothing, you hear me, nothing you could do, that would make you not welcome here." Gunman reached into his pocket, "I don't usually do this, but I feel we've bonded quite well here, take my number, call me, let me know how you're doing during the week and we can discuss the next time you'd like to come back, yeah?"<br>Paulie grinned back at Gunman, "thanks" he said as he took another sip of his thickshake. It was strange but in one day, he'd gone from absolutely hating church to loving it, a lot could happen in one day.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry for some of you that might have been a bit of a boring chapter, but it's all character development, Skins needs to deal with teenage issues from Sex to Religion from Relationships to Enemies, but it's not all up hill and Paulie's about to be hit hard in the next few chapters, so keep reading, also let me know what you think! Chapter 5 up soon.<em>

_Lyrics: See Him Coming - Mark Peterson - 2007_


	5. Chapter 5

**SKINS – GEN 4 – SERIES 7 – 7.09: PAULIE**

**EFFICIENCY! That's on a night overloaded with pointless stacks of undone homework so be appreciative, I've just been thinking how I can organize this to make the time fit in well, you tend to notice when they mess up the times in Skins specifically in Generation 1, there's a few examples but the one I specifically remember is 1.01 where they keep talking about how it's night time yet it's a bright blue morning, or 2.04 when it goes swiftly from afternoon to morning to afternoon without night and they appear to be going to sleep in the morning, so I'm not sure what that is all about, but yeah I'm trying to make sure that the stories fit in time-wise and hopefully that's what it will do, enough of the analysis, chapter 5!**

* * *

><p>Paulie knocked on the door to the ward, "I've got sushi," he said, holding up a plastic bag.<p>

Victoria smiled, "You're a life saver, any night where I don't have to eat shitty hospital food is a good night. Don't take that the wrong way lovely people, they just can't make a baked dinner to save their lives."

Paulie moved all the papers off her desk to place down the meal, and frowned looking at all of them then flicked his eyes to the end of her bed to see 4 charts hanging off, "Look at you! Has Santa been or something you're loaded with papers and charts."  
>Victoria let out a small smile, "Well you know… all that Gym and stuff…"<br>"Boy they get up your ass don't they? Oh well, never mind them, did you end up watching the movie?" asked Paulie.

"Not yet," said Victoria.

"Well, I'll get Lauren and we'll get started then," he said as he popped a piece of sushi into his mouth, "Lauren!"

"MONSTERS?"  
>Paulie smirked, "Yeah, we're just about to start."<br>"Oh my goodness, wait! Don't start without me!" she yelled as a loud clutter came from the desk and both Paulie and Victoria started laughing.

* * *

><p>The cold night sky across Bristol seeped through Victoria's window as Paulie sat cross-legged on the end of the bed.<p>

"It's just so unbelievable Mum, I've never… I've never felt so at home in my life, everyone is just so welcoming and it's so easy to understand and relate to, and the people aren't just like these church-junkies it's like they're people they just… well they actually care for once. I think I love it Mum, I've finally found somewhere that I can… just be, somewhere that I can finally be a Christian and myself but…"  
>A sly smirk crept across Victoria's face, "but your Dad wouldn't approve of it one bit."<br>"I don't get why," said Paulie scowling and darting his eyes downwards to the bed covers, "It's still a church, I'm still honoring God, it's just not his, he's such a… I just can't take him."  
>"You have to Paulie," said Victoria.<p>

"You don't," said Paulie looking up.

"If I could… I would." Paulie paused as Victoria stared at him and continued talking, "Look Paulie, I know he can be a bit of a prick, but he's your Dad and you know deep down you love him, as do I, I would do anything to go back and not do what I did, but you never know what might happen, and now I'm in a hospital without him, but you know… It's all ok, cause I have you, I'm so proud of you… it doesn't matter if you're not perfect, I mess up too and so do you, but really, I'm so glad to call you my son," she said stroking his cheek, "that's gotta be worth a few tumors and if God can forgive me, then surely one day he will too, it's just taking him a while."  
>"A few years," said Paulie.<p>

"They'll be worthwhile years for those to come."

Paulie smiled, "How do you stay so… optimistic, I could never do that."  
>"I've got you," she said, "So I gotta keep going, don't have a choice. Also you bring me Sushi."<br>"Oh great, I'm the bloody sushi boy," said Paulie.

"Exactly," said Victoria with a grin.

"I better get going," said Paulie, "Dad will be having a fit, I'll try and come back tomorrow if he hasn't cut my throat."  
>"Can you pass me one of those hand wipes on your way out?"<br>"Sure thing, hand wipe coming up." said Paulie, pulling down on the little dispenser and chucking it over.

"Thank you," said Victoria, "Bye"

Paulie waved to his Mum as he turned around and walked out towards the elevator to head home.

* * *

><p>Paulie took a deep breath as he stood in front of the door twisting his neck. He fondled the key in his hand as he slid it into the lock and opened it.<p>

"Dad, I'm home," he said out loud shutting his eyes tight.

"I'm in the kitchen," he said.

Paulie walked on through to the kitchen where his Dad was already seated. His Dad gestured the spare seat opposite to him.

"Look Dad," said Paulie as he swallowed, "Before you start, I know what I did was wrong and I want to apologize and I think I…"

"No Paulie, I'll start," he said as he cleared his throat, "I think we need to start looking at education options for you."  
>"I've got an education..." said Paulie.<p>

"I'm moving you out of Roundview." Said Peter.

Paulie laughed, "You are not."  
>"Excuse me, I'll do whatever I damn well please," Paulie's eyes shook like little glass balls, "Your behaviour has shown me something I thought I'd never see from you and it's ever since Roundview, so I'm moving you out and away from those friends."<br>"No Dad, don't you get it? I've gone and fixed it, I can fix it! Everything's gonna be better now!" shouted Paulie as he stood up slamming his hands on the table, and then lifting his left hand towards his jacket pocket.

"Paulie sit down and lower your voice," said Peter in a stern tone.

"No!" said Paulie, "Not till you listen!"  
>"Paulie," said Peter, "Have you cut connections with your friends?"<br>"No!"

"Then things are not better! And they won't be until those friends are gone!"  
>"Oh yeah that's your way of doing things Dad, cutting off whatever is the slightest bit sinful."<br>Peter cocked his head, "If your hand causes you to sin cut it off, if your eye causes you to sin gouge it out."  
>"It's less literal than you think Dad, what about Paul going amongst the different crowds of criminals and tax collectors to help them to know Christ?"<p>

"If you paid a little more attention in church you would've been able to quote that better."  
>Paulie threw his head back, "Oh now you're just talking rubbish, you know you've got no argument. I am growing in God, I've found something that's gonna help me get way closer to him, I am fixing this."<br>"It wouldn't happen to be related to the flyer that you reached for and then briskly stopped reaching for in your jacket pocket. Thought you fooled your old man?"  
>Paulie's heart skipped a beat as his teeth remained clenched.<p>

Peter extended a hand, "Pass it to me please."  
>Paulie snatched it out of his pocket and placed it in his father's hand as Peter flicked through it.<p>

"So…" said Peter, "Is our church not good enough for you?"  
>"As it goes," said Paulie, "I don't think it suits me."<br>"Why?" asked Peter, "Is it because we don't hand out free drugs? We don't hire in Metallica to play our songs? We don't have Kanye West giving the sermons?"  
>"No Dad!" said Paulie, "It's because it's not a loving community, they don't care about each other, they just drone on, there's no-one there I can connect to, I can't connect to the talks and everything there is old just for the sake of being old. Nothing at this new Church is sinful Dad, it's just different, it's more modern for a more modern Christian, I didn't grow up in the 1960's like you did, and things are different for me, it's more suited for me, it's a loving community, and there are Christians there my age I can relate to!"<br>Peter pushed his chair out standing up, and came face to face with Paulie, he tore up the flyer, "You will not be going back to that Church."  
>"Why!" screamed Paulie, "What reason do you have? Because I'm finally growing in God and it's not your way you are going to ban me from it."<br>"It's because it's wrong, you have an obligation to the congregation, we all do."  
>"If the congregation had an obligation to each other they wouldn't spit on me when I mess up."<br>Peter turned around, "we are putting you back in line, we know you're young and need discipline."  
>"That's not how you preach the message, you don't spread God's word by tying it to a metal pole and hitting people over the head with it, you connect with them and show how it can help them and how it can love them and how God loves them. Where is God's love Dad?"<br>Peter turned around still with a firm face, "it is with those who deserve it."  
>Paulie picked up his chair and smacked it heavily back on the floor shattering one of the wooden legs, firing up Peter's face.<p>

Paulie shook his head, "You know what I am a disgrace," he said, "I am a total piss stain on the rug of the world, but it could be worse… I could be you."  
>Paulie walked away and stormed upstairs, slamming his door.<p>

* * *

><p>Paulie turned on his Xbox and sat as his game loaded, he felt like crushing the controller in his hand. The game loaded and the menu came up, Paulie immediately began to set up his game, but just before he was about to start it, he sighed, looking at the menu and then tossed his controller across the room as it hit the wall with a mighty thud and then he turned the TV off.<p>

There was just this feeling, that he wouldn't be able to get into the game tonight, he laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes with a sigh, imagining how much better it would be if his Mum and Dad could swap places.

He opened his eyes trying to focus on a sound coming from his right ear. He leaned over the bed and looked underneath to see his phone buzzing on the ground.

He flicked it open, "Hello?"  
>"Yo Pauls! Where are you? I've been calling you all day, you bellend!" came Dean's snarky voice.<p>

"Sorry," said Paulie leaning back, "I left my phone at home all day."  
>"Well never mind that, we're getting a party started, there's gonna be heaps this coming week, cause we're getting close to the end of term, most people have finished their exams by now, so it is our duty as teenagers to get constantly wasted."<br>Paulie sighed, "Look Dean, I got pretty messed up from last night, so I'm not sure…"  
>"Oh you are such a pussy, for once please, just don't argue and come."<br>Paulie clenched his fist to his left, "You know what? I will Dean, I'll be there in 10 fucking minutes."  
>"That's the spirit my boy! Bring your game face!"<br>"Fuck off!" said Paulie as he clasped his phone shut. He stood up and slid open his window to climb out, and then slid down the wall hitting the ground. He was not going to let his Dad win.

* * *

><p><em>Added a little bit in there that I hadn't planned which is going to play out nicely for the next chapter, otherwise it might've just seemed like a filler, but now it won't be, also some pretty important foreshadowing for 7.10 in the next chapter so keep your eyes peeled! Chapter 6 up soon.<em>


	6. Chapter 6

**SKINS – GEN 4 – SERIES 7 – 7.09: PAULIE  
><strong>**  
>Welcome to chapter 6! I am getting worse and worse with updating, I know and my apology's are getting longer and longer, I really want to get Series 7 finished before Series 6 on TV finishes, that's my goal at the moment and I reckon I can do it considering I used to do episodes in a week, something I do frequently update though is the character twitters.<strong>

**GemmaRockett**

**DeanWinton**

**KellyDawson10**

**Samantha_OKeefe**

**McDonnellHayley**

**TheMatsumotoKid**

**ClaireValentino**

**MrDrewMartin**

**Paulie_Preston**

**So follow them for a better Gen 4 fix than this is giving you, but I will get updating more and more so I can finish Series 7 and I'll hopefully get a lot of people anticipated for Series 8 so I can put a lot of work into that. Here is Chapter 6!**

* * *

><p>"You know what you need to do man? Stand up for yourself! Take the higher ground." Said Ken, pointing in Paulie's direction.<p>

"Where's that gonna get me?" Paulie asked throwing his hands up, "My Dad's someone who nails his balls into his decisions"

"Yeah!" said Ken, "So match him! Decision for decision, you won't fall over, he won't fall over and if it's about you there isn't much he can make you do is there?"  
>"He can kick me out, then I'm totally fucked," said Paulie.<p>

"I'm doing alright," said Drew with a shrug.

"Trust me Pauls," said Ken leaning over, "Being a rebel is the best thing, always gets you on top."  
>"You ended up in jail Ken and you nearly had your family disown you," said Paulie.<p>

Ken shook his head, "apart from that."

"I Dunno," said Paulie shaking his head, "I feel good doing stuff behind his back cause it's sort of giving him the finger, but he always fucks me over afterwards. Ah! He's such a dildo, I mean… why… What good does it do him to send me to a different church!"  
>"Well maybe…" said Drew pursing his lips, "Have you thought, I mean it's a possibility, that your Dad's church… is home of the lobster people, hiding in the dead skins of humans and they don't want there secret to get out, but now we know!" Drew's eyes shot open, "Oh shit they're gonna find us, man the battle stations!"<br>Paulie grabbed Drew by the knee, "Just how stoned are you right now?"  
>Drew blew his lips while shaking his head, "I dunno mate, I'm just like, Stony Stonerson, King of the stone people, who lives at Stonehenge and listens to Stonefield… while he's stoned."<p>

Ken turned to him, "I was actually thinking about renting at Stonehenge, I've heard it's quite pleasant this time of year."  
>Drew clicked his tongue, "Well the weathers good yeah, but you have to think about the price, I mean real estate is on the rise you could be looking at about 800 a month. Where you living at the moment?"<p>

Ken stared in thought for a moment, "Well, I'm living here ain't I?"  
>"Right," said Drew nodding, "How much is it?"<br>"I dunno," said Ken, "I just knocked on the door and there were all these people and they let me in."  
>Paulie shook his head looking away into the crowd, "You two finally get girlfriends and they piss off when you need a babysitter."<br>Paulie frowned as he looked into the flashing lights to see Dean, dancing in the lights, it was no unusual sight, but what was unusual was Gemma grinding up against him on the dance floor.

Paulie shook his head and looked away down at the floor. "Guys," said Paulie, "I've been thinking and… well, I dunno… I dunno if this is right for me you know? I just… I feel so different, everyone's kind of out here getting fucked and then there's just me, stupid old me, who pisses on his beliefs every time there's a cigarette in his hands. I dunno if I can do it anymore… I just dunno what to do…"

"Man, have you seen Houndoom? He's got like… fucking skulls on his body… that's probably like people skulls and shit… and he's black, that dog will fuck you up." Said Ken.

"Bullshit, Arcanine could shit all over fucking Houndoom, Arcanine's got more bulk then a black man on steroids, Arcanine would rape Houndoom in the ass with like fire and shit." Said Drew.

"Seriously?" asked Paulie, "How did you potheads get from real estate at Stonehenge to Pokémon?"

Drew pulled a sour face and curled up in a ball, "I don't ever want to breathe again; breathing makes my throat feel vulnerable."  
>"You damn right Houndoom would kick your ass." Said Ken with an idiotic smile.<p>

"Guys, seriously, I need your help! I could get kicked out of Roundview and never see you all again!" shouted Paulie.

"Man, your so 2D" said Ken, "Stop thinking about life in Roundview man, start thinking about life in Sphereview!"  
>"Oh Lord, please help me have patience with my friends so I don't bash their heads in." said Paulie as he looked back up.<p>

Dean was behind Gemma now dancing to the music and his lips were running all over her neck as she through her head back.

"Oh that is it!" said Paulie as he jumped to his feet.

He pushed through the people till he got to Dean and Gemma. "You!" said Paulie pointing, "Upstairs! Now! We need a word!"  
>Dean looked up, "Bit busy twat! Wait a minute!"<br>"Not you!" said Paulie.

Dean frowned and then looked at Gemma. Paulie rolled his eyes and then grabbed Gemma by the hand leading her out of the crowd, "Ah! What the fuck?" she said.

* * *

><p>Paulie brought Gemma into the bedroom as Gemma shook him off, "Alright, alright! Let go of me!"<p>

Paulie let go of Gemma as she sat on the bed, Gemma looked up at him his face pressed with fury, "Alright, first off," said Gemma, "What the fuck are you doing?"  
>"I could ask you the exact same question Gemma."<p>

Gemma raised her eyebrows in confusion, "I was doing shit! I was just dancing!"  
>"Were you now? Didn't look like fucking dancing!"<p>

"What's it got to do with you?" asked Gemma.

"Everything! Because Dean's my friend, you're my friend, and Claire is my friend!" said Paulie.

"Claire?"

"Yes, Claire," said Paulie, "And you're screwing her over big time. You can't control yourself can you? That girl is in love with you, she doesn't care for your body, or how you dress or what you do, she's in love with you and what do you do, go out and grind with the sleaziest guy in the club."  
>"I was just… fucking… dancing!"<br>"No you weren't!" said Paulie pointing his fingers, "What's going on between you and Dean! Because it doesn't look like just dancing, it looks like a lot more then dancing, you are fucking her over!"  
>"Don't you dare tell me what I'm doing to Claire… I love…"<br>"No!" said Paulie, "Don't you dare! For once in your life stop acting like no one else has the right to have a go at you. Cause it's all about you Gemma, it's all about fucking you."  
>"What is?"<br>"Everything!" said Paulie, "Sam feeling pointless cause of you, Ken fought back cause you told him to, you and Drew had that little secret thing and you fucked him over, now Dean! And let me tell you… I feel so sorry for Claire, because she couldn't have fell for someone who gives less of a shit."  
>"Alright Paulie! I get it then aye? Time to stand up to me cause I'm the worlds biggest bitch, the biggest slut, yes I fuck around with people, I'm messed up I get it and maybe I just mess up other people cause I want people to know how it feels? Is that it? Is that it big shot?"<br>"Fuck it! No!" Paulie grabbed his hair and turned around hitting his head against the drawer, "I didn't mean it like that, you just… you just… fuck, that's what you do Gemma. You know Dean, Dean's a vulnerable person, I reckon he could have stayed away from you, I reckon he would've tried, but when you lead him to what he wants, he's going to go for it and you abused him."  
>"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's all I care about… ain't it Pauls?"<p>

Paulie turned around to see Dean standing in the doorway. "Dean… shit… you know I didn't."  
>Dean shook his head, "Mmm… I'm not sure I do know Pauls, do I know? Do I know that I'm just a dick and all I want is pussy, that's all I care about in life, all I want to do is fuck."<br>"You know I don't mean it like that. I was just trying…" said Paulie.

"_Look at me Dean! I haven't lost my virginity, not cause I want to but cause I'm saving it for someone I love_. You put yourself way above me Pauls, way above. You think I'm just a horny little prick, you think I don't do other things, you think I can't care, that I can't love, you all think that, who's to say I can't love? Come on, come and say it you dick! Say I'm a fucking heartless shit! Go on say it!"  
>Paulie shut his eyes, "Dean…"<br>"No, you know what Paulie? Fuck you, I'm done living for other people." Said Dean as he walked back out into the hallway.

Paulie remained there with his eyes shut breathing heavily. "Do you still like me?" asked Gemma.

"No, not anymore," said Paulie as he turned around.

"That's a lie, I know it is." Said Gemma.

"I don't care what you know," said Paulie, "I don't care what anybody knows, don't try and think you know me now, cause nobody gave me any attention before so don't come into my life now and play as if you know me, cause you don't, you could've but you don't." Paulie paused and reached out his finger, "You see, I pay attention to you, so I know you, and there's one thing I have to ask? Can you do it? Can you honestly do a proper relationship? Cause I don't think you can… you've been running from it your entire life and now you decide to do it? Nobody starts an expert…"  
>"So what then? Dump Claire? Break her heart."<br>"You're already doing that… listen, it's up to you, you can go around and have lots of sex and be the boss of everyone, seducing whoever you like, but you can't do that and love Claire, because she deserves better than that, it's up to you… and I know what I'd choose, and this isn't from a Christian point of view, this from a decent person point of view… I know Gemma, I know you can be so much better…"  
>"Than what I am?"<br>"No… because you already are so much better and you can be so much better… but you've got to want to be better, so don't fuck it up."  
>Paulie let out a deep breath as the heat of the conversation finally left and he headed for the door.<p>

"Paulie…" said Gemma.

He turned around to face her.

"We could be better friends… you and I…"  
>"We could," said Paulie, "But it takes a bit more effort than that." He stared at her from the bedroom door, "And I think we both recognize this scene enough to know that."<br>He left the bedroom leaving Gemma on her own on the bed as she laid back.

* * *

><p>Paulie stormed downstairs and into the beating light of the party again. He walked over to a table to his right. "Why are all these party's at the same fucking houses?" he asked Kelly to his left.<p>

"Generous owners?" she said, "What's up with you?"  
>"Everything," said Paulie, "I need a drink."<br>"Paulie, I don't think you should… do you want to come talk to me?" she asked.

"I want a fucking drink," he said as he went over to his right and took a cup of lager and sculled it down, with half the drink pouring over himself, and some of the people around him looking quite impressed.

His grip became tighter as he began picking up more drinks and the dancing got heavier, Kelly quickly faded away into the night, and Paulie was left drinking among people he didn't know. He recognized two brown eyes in the crowd but instead of their usual, fiery strength, they looked hurt and sympathetic.

Paulie kept drinking and when he opened his eyes next, he was puking on the grass. He tried to grab himself, but it just kept coming out, round after round, almost breaking Paulie into yelps of pain.  
>When it finally stopped, Paulie's stomach felt raw, and he had strength to fall to his right and roll over so he didn't land in his own vomit. Paulie stared up at the stars with his mouth feeling like hot tar and his face sweating and trying not to crack under the pressure.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Dramatic! We are drawing closer to the Series 7 wrap up, it's gonna completely change the story and everyone is going to feel the effect of it, I'm looking forward to Series 8 now, it may be a while away, but there are some incredible things installed for you all, two chapters left, I hope to do them very soon and not a week later, we'll see how we go! <em>


	7. Chapter 7

**SKINS – GEN 4 – SERIES 7 – 7.09: PAULIE**

**Alright tension building up in these last few chapters, you might want to read them all in one go, it's up to you, maybe some of you wait to read the whole episode in one go, I don't know but I won't leave you waiting around for Chapter 8 for ages, I'll do it shortly after Chapter 7 to keep it running, then it's time to get to work on the series finale, I know the big part of it, but apart from that I'm not overly sure I've what I'm doing, but in the meantime, here is Chapter 7.**

* * *

><p>There was a slight drizzle as Paulie stood on the street, he'd been standing there for 20 minutes contemplating whether or not to knock on the door. He was completely lost, he was at the point in life where he had no idea what to do and he felt like there was no one to help, and this was his final option and he couldn't bring himself to do it.<p>

Paulie looked around at the quiet houses surrounding him and in the end, gave up the conflict with his mind. He knocked on the door and stood there, after a few seconds a light flickered on, on the porch and the door swung open to reveal Gunman standing in a pair of shorts with squinty eyes, "Paulie?"  
>"I'm so sorry…" said Paulie just standing there as he swallowed.<p>

"Paulie? What's wrong? It's 4 in the morning." He said rubbing his eyes.  
>"Your right, I'm sorry, I'll just leave," said Paulie quickly stepping to his left.<p>

"Paulie," said Gunman, "Why are you here?"  
>Paulie paused and looked up, "I think I'm in trouble… and I don't know what to do."<br>Gunman nodded, "Of course… come in, come in."

Gunman shut the door behind Paulie, it looked like a small but modern home. "We'll have to be quiet so we don't wake the wife. Do you want a towel?"  
>Paulie shook his head, "Nah, I'll be right."<br>"Take a seat," said Gunman, "I'll put the kettle on."

Paulie pulled out his seat and felt rather uncomfortable and weird, but Chris' warmth lowered his anxiety.

Gunman took a seat opposite the table and clasped his hands together. "What's up, you look a right mess."  
>"I am," said Paulie, "I honestly am, in every way… I tried to tell you… but… it was just so hard to get across cause you were so good… and I'm not…"<br>"You think you're not good enough compared to me?" said Gunman nodding.

Paulie smirked, "Basically yeah, at first…"  
>Gunman stood up from his chair, Paulie opened his mouth again, "I haven't really… well I haven't really told you yet."<br>"I know, I know," said Gunman, "I wanna show you something before you tell me what it is." Gunman reached up on top of the fridge and brought down a framed photo. He handed it to Paulie, "I want you to tell me, who you think that is?"  
>Paulie furrowed his brow, the picture was a slick blonde boy who looked about the same age as Paulie, leaning against a guardrail, smiling, with a big coastline behind him, "Some incredibly inspirational Christian boy?"<br>Gunman shook his head, "No, far from it."

Paulie shrugged, "Brother?" Gunman shook his head, "I dunno… friend, cousin, nephew, estranged uncle, the boy down by the corner store who donates money to the homeless man every day?"  
>Gunman was staring at the table smiling and then looked up at Paulie, "That is the face… from every nightmare I've ever had."<br>Paulie felt a blow to the stomach of shock, "What? I don't…" he hesitated, "But…"  
>"You're wondering why I'd keep a picture of a face that gives me nightmares in the kitchen." Said Gunman.<p>

"Pretty much," said Paulie, "I think that much is obvious."  
>There was a click behind Gunman and he stood up, "Kettle's done."<br>"What is that it?" said Paulie, "I mean who is he? Why does some kid give you nightmares?"  
>Gunman poured the two cups of tea and placed them on the table and slid one across to Paulie.<p>

"That is Thomas Avery, 1997, long while back now… me and my group of friends from college, just a few of the lads, this was… before I knew God obviously, we were just average guys, and so was he, he didn't really exist to us, he was shy and closed off, we didn't know him, we didn't care, he didn't mess with us, we didn't mess with him. Until, one weekend, we saw him at a party he didn't think anyone he knew was at, because he was kissing his boyfriend, and I pointed it out to the rest of my group, at the time we did nothing, but the next Monday, that's when hell started for him, we came up to him in the hall saying all sorts of things, _'Batty boy, fag, cock sucker,'_ every name you could think of under the sun and he was in absolute fright, ran home, absolute terrified that we had outted him, he pulled himself together, and came back to college, but we never stopped. We just kept going, every chance we got, doing whatever we could to have a go at him. That's when we came to college one Monday, to find all the teachers running about in panic, and they called an emergency assembly to tell us that Tom had hung himself on the weekend."

Paulie froze at the words as Chris kept nodding, "Something hit me, and every part of my body just stopped, I just sat there, nothing was happening around me, but everyone around me felt like angels, and I felt like the darkness of the world, it was the worst I had ever felt, and I wasn't the only one, I was just one of about 6 or 7, but I had made a boy take his life, a completely innocent boy who had done nothing wrong, and I went out onto the green during the lunch break to talk to my mates, to see how they were feeling… and they acted like nothing had happened. I got so confused and I brought it up, thinking they had misheard it and do you know what one of them said, he said, _'At least he will enjoy sucking Satan's cock'_ I realized I was hanging around the worst people on earth and I was one of them, people who had no value for an innocent life and wanted to take it. That's when the nightmares started, every night I'd see the face in my mind, hanging itself and I couldn't get it off my mind, I felt like a bloodstain on the earth, I was even thinking of taking my own life… and I remember, feeling just as lost as you were on a cold street at 2 in the morning, I had just tried to jump off a bridge, but I couldn't do it, and the only place that was still open was a church, an old church and there was a man in there, a man who sat in there praying and I told him how I felt, and how I felt like nothing could ever rid that face from my mind, I would always feel guilty… but he said something amazing… he said that there was someone who would forgive me, you can probably work out the rest for yourself, anyway, I prayed… and that face left my mind, gone… I could finally be forgiven, I couldn't forgive myself, but God could. I'm telling you this Paulie, cause I think I know what's going on and I just want to…"  
>"I'm a screw up," said Paulie, "An absolute screw up, I'm the most unchristian Christian there is, I swear, I drink, I smoke, I do drugs, I get into fights, I upset people and I probably would've lost my virginity by now had I had the option."<br>Gunman smiled and nodded, "Paulie… there is no such thing as an unchristian Christian, and I want to tell you, that God loves you just as much as he does me and will love you just as much when you're drinking as when you're praying, and there is nothing so bad you could do that he wouldn't forgive you for it."  
>"Yeah," said Paulie, "I think I get it."<br>"That's not to say," said Gunman leaning back, "That I advise you continue such activities."  
>Paulie nodded, "yeah, it's just…" He sighed, "I know it sounds like an excuse, but it's just my Dad… he is all over the place… and there's just nothing I can…"<p>

"He won't let you live your own life? And you don't get why?" asked Gunman.

"Yes," said Paulie laughing, "That's exactly it."  
>"Look Paulie this is a very in-depth conversation… and you don't look like your in the condition for it at all, I want you to go home and get some sleep and we can talk during the week, properly, man to man, yeah?"<br>Paulie opened his mouth to rebut, but then nodded, "Yeah, I suppose…"  
>"Sun will be up any minute now," said Gunman, "Better get moving"<p>

"Alright," said Paulie standing up.

"Wait a minute, I just wanna recite one verse first, just one to keep in mind. John 14:1. _Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.'_"

Paulie nodded slowly, "Right."

* * *

><p>Paulie crept in the house closing the door quietly. As Paulie trod on the first step he heard his Dad's voice, "I prayed tonight Paulie," said his Dad.<p>

Paulie frowned and entered the kitchen, "Don't you usually pray."  
>Peter breathed in, "I prayed tonight and I said, <em>'Lord? Why is my son such a failure?'<em>"  
>Paulie smiled and nodded, "Oh wow, that's great, real original, nice one."<br>"Where were you tonight Paulie?" asked Peter.

"Do you even need to ask?" shouted Paulie, "You already know, what do you even care anymore?"  
>"It's just constant Paulie!" shouted Peter, "Every single night, I'm doing everything I can, I'm pulling you out of Roundview, does nothing make you stop? I can smell the alcohol on your breath!"<br>"I know, I'm a screw up Dad! You never had to tell me, I already knew! And it's not like I've not tried to do anything about it! But when I'm wound up and lonely, you aren't there to help, it was just luck that I had Chris Gunner…"  
>"Chris Gunner?" said Peter as he took a deep breath in, "I thought I told you not to go to that church."<br>"Wait a minute!" said Paulie suddenly, "How do yo-"  
>"I strictly said! You've gone to party's, gone to that druggie church, is there anywhere else I've told you to not go, that you've gone to?" he asked.<p>

Paulie paused for a minute, staring at his father with a sour face.

The realization hit Peter, "You've been going to the hospital."  
>"Another surprise," said Paulie.<p>

Peter slammed his fist against the table, "That was my number 1. Rule! You remember! I said under no circumstances are you to go to the hospital."  
>"She's lonely in there Dad! She's sick and lonely in there! She needs someone!" shouted Paulie.<p>

"She is sick in more ways than one! And the other type is infectious; she will transfer her ways onto you! And she has made herself lonely!" said Peter pointing his finger.

"No!" said Paulie standing up against him, "You made her lonely! You're the one who did this to her! She said sorry and you couldn't get over yourself and ended up messing it up, and you took years of your own failure out on her and me! Guess you couldn't stand the part of her that lives in me and no longer lives in yo-"

"If she didn't want to face God's wrath, she should not have fallen short of the glory of God!" said Peter turning around.

"And what? You've never done anything wrong? You've never had to ask for forgiveness, cause I'm pretty damn sure you have!"

Peter turned around once again to face him, "I never defiled the name of the Lord in such a way as that woman."  
>"She's my Mum!" screamed Paulie.<p>

"She is a Harlot!" screamed Peter.

Everything inside Paulie snapped, as in one swift motion he pulled his arm all the way back around his head, he then swung his fist forward as it connected with his father's cheek bone, sending him flying back as his head smacked the cupboard and his tailbone whacked the kitchen sink. His body went limp and he swung around to the left falling unconscious to the ground, all of which took about 3 seconds.

Paulie felt all the air escape from his lungs as he grabbed his face stroking it, "Holy shit," he muttered, "Oh fuck… holy shit," he said. Paulie grabbed his hair and pulled back on it.

He walked backwards and stumbled into the hallway grabbing the doorframe, not able to take his eyes off his Dad lying face down in the kitchen.

Paulie turned around and broke into a run, slamming the door outside. He quickly grabbed his bike and began to pedalled off into the rain.

* * *

><p>As the rain now pelted down around him. Paulie was completely unsure of what his emotions were doing; they were running wild, in fear, anger and over all sadness. The pedals became more slippery in the rain and his foot pushed too far forward and slid off just after the hill.<p>

The bike began to wobble and Paulie veered to his left as it got caught on the mud in the ditch. Paulie flew over the handlebars and skidded across the mud as it ripped open scars on his arms and he cried out in pain.

He hauled himself up with his mouth hanging open and looked round at the bike. He held his left arm with his right hand and picked up the bike with the left hand; the entire chassis was twisted, there was no way he could ride it.

"FUCK!" he screamed as he through the bike down back into the ditch.

He threw his arm over his head to shield him from the rain, not that it did much good and began to run forwards up towards the hospital.

He walked in and ignored the shop; he wasn't in the mood for it today. He just hit the elevator button and waited as it slowly went up. The doors slid open as Paulie stepped forward trotting towards the ward. Lauren looked up at him from the desk, "Paulie!" she said, "I've been trying to ring you."  
>Paulie shook his head, "Not now Lauren."<p>

Lauren pushed herself up from the desk and ran over behind Paulie, "I need to speak to you."  
>Paulie walked into the ward to notice the light of the storm glimmering in onto the empty bed.<p>

"Where is she?" asked Paulie.

"Paulie sit on the bed," she said, "I've been trying to contact you."  
>"Look I just need to find my Mum, I'll talk to you later." He said.<p>

"She went into surgery," said Lauren, looking up at him with dried-out eyes.

Paulie shook his head, "No, she can't have, she would've told me if she was having a surgery."  
>"The tumors were getting worse Paulie, she didn't want to tell you cause you were stressing too much with everything happening in your life. Didn't you wander what all the clipboards were for?" "<br>Paulie's eyes were hanging wide open as it all began to sink in.

"Look those tumors could've killed her so the doctor's told her and said the decision was hers and sometimes you have to make risks and… they sometimes aren't always successful…"  
>"Lauren…" said Paulie, "Please don't, I don't care about anything else, just please don't fucking do it."<br>"I'm sorry Paulie… she didn't make it, she died on the operating table," said Lauren.

"No she didn't, this is some prank gone wrong or she is down in the gym, you're just messing me over, I would've known." Said Paulie stamping his foot on the ground.

"Paulie, the surgeons did everything they could, there's some things you just can't fight and everybody has to go sometime, and they fought as hard as they could."

"Well they should have fought harder!" he shouted, "she can't be gone, I didn't get a proper goodbye, I can't even remember the last thing I said to her, I would've been passing her paper towels or something."  
>"I'm so sorry Paulie, I'm right here if you…"<br>"She was the only person I was certain loved me…" said Paulie.

"I love you Paulie," said Lauren, "And God loves you, you just…"  
>"No," said Paulie, "No, if God really cared… then this wouldn't be happening right now."<br>"Paulie we don't know why God does things, we just have to trust that his made the best decision."  
>"No," said Paulie shaking his head as his breathing got faster, "No, I don't care anymore, I don't care for him anymore at all."<br>Paulie burst into run heading for the elevator.

"Paulie!" shouted Lauren as she tried to chase after him, but the doors to the elevator had already shut.

* * *

><p>Paulie ran out of the hospital at full speed, the rain burning against his skin, he knew he had to run, as fast as he could, when he finally reached the bottom of the hill he stopped panting for breath and looked to his right where his mangled bike lay rusting from the rain.<p>

Paulie walked forward past it and stood alongside the river panting, looking at his reflection.

"John 14:1." He said to himself aloud, "_Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."_

"I trusted in you God," he shouted, "I truly did, and you could've done anything, you did anything, but why did you take her? I don't care what excuse you have, there isn't one good enough! After all I've been through you do that… You know what?" he looked up at the sky, "I'm done trusting in you. Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! WHY!" He screamed, "OF ALL THINGS! WHY YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKING DICK! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" he screamed just before he fell over onto the bank of the river crying as the water soaked through his hair but he couldn't tell as his whole body heaved in sadness.

* * *

><p><em>That was a long chapter, I'm glad I got a bit out in that, it was quite a painful one to write and also to make sure I didn't fall into any cliché death but something a lot more personal, and I know it seems a lot in this story that I'm just talking about Christianity, but just keep in mind we're dealing with all teenage issues and religion is a big one and as we can see it doesn't always go well. I just want to say that if you're suffering from loneliness, depression or loss of a loved one, make sure you speak out to someone, please do it, you're too special to be lost.<em>


	8. Chapter 8

**SKINS – GEN 4 – SERIES 7 – 7.09: PAULIE**

**We reach our final chapter for Episode 9 and have 1 episode left of the series :(. Though I'm sure if you've enjoyed it so far, you'll continue to enjoy it and be anticipating Series 8, I am not sure when I will be writing Series 8, I won't do it in a year like on TV, I'll probably do it before, but not straight away, I will still write stuff, but probably stuff, dip my toes into other fandom's or try out one of my other ideas. But first let's finish Episode 9 with Chapter 8.**

* * *

><p>Paulie arrived back home with the night slowly easing in. He stood at the doorstep, and got ready to knock. He couldn't bring himself to do it, the worst fear was that his Dad would still be lying there; he wouldn't be able to take losing them both in the one day.<p>

He got ready to knock but as his knuckles hit the door it creaked open slightly. He walked through the hallway to find the kitchen light on, and strangely enough, there was smoke floating softly through the hallway.

He peered around the kitchen door to see his Dad at the table, his shirt was unbuttoned and he had a large bruise across his cheek.

He sat smoking a cigarette and drinking a glass of whiskey, Paulie looked completely taken back, because he had no idea there was even whiskey in the house.

"I kept it in the closet," said Peter, "If you were wondering, and the cigarettes, well… not hard enough to search through your room."

Paulie swallowed and step forward, "How are you feeling," he said in a grusky tone.

"Apart from the heavens beating down upon my head, rather shit actually,"

Paulie kept feeling blows to the chest from hearing his Dad swearing, "You know?"  
>"They rang this afternoon, I don't know why I'm not even on their contact list, and they've never contacted me." Said Peter, "I'm the one who stopped giving a damn."<br>Paulie looked up, "Maybe the-"

His father immediately interrupted him, "You know on our wedding day, I said '_Bless the Lord for the best gift I'll ever have, which is your love and Bless the Lord for the second best gift I'll ever have, which is hers._'" He took a swig of his drink, "Then on the day I… kicked her out, I felt so angry, so angry with everything even the Lord, and so I focused my anger… into everything but God, cause I knew it was most important to stay trusting in him, and my biggest failure in life, was never being able to forgive her… when she forgave me."  
>"She still loved you, you know," said Paulie, "right till the end."<br>"I know," said Peter, "So did I, and I thought that maybe it would ease away, maybe we could fix it, and I remember saying… I remember… the only time I said anything like this, '_Curse the Lord for the worst curse I'll ever have, which is her lo-'_"  
>Peter put his glass down and lowered his head as he began choking back a cry. Paulie went over to him and put his hand on his shoulder, immediately Peter stood up and hugged Paulie, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for being the worst father I ever could be."<br>"I'm sorry for being the worst son," said Paulie, "Guess we're kind of equal, aye?"  
>Peter pulled away and shook his head, "But you're not… you're so much better than that."<br>Paulie bit his lip, "I did happen to punch you in the face."  
>"I needed it to be honest, a physical one and one with a bruise that won't fade."<br>"I've been thinking about the verse Gunman told me, it was John 14:1. _Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me._"  
>Peter smiled, "It's always good to trust in the Lord," he said, "I'll be a bit honest, I didn't really want you going to that other church, because I could never Stand Chris Gunner… I could never stand that he was just such a better person than me, but now I'm glad that I couldn't have a better person to guide you towards God, better than me to say the least."<br>"How did you know who he was?" asked Paulie.

Peter looked at the table and swallowed.

Paulie's eyes shot wide open, "It was you, you were the guy who helped him become a Christian."  
>"Yes," said Peter, "A day when I was a much better man, cause I could remember Christ's love." He paused and pushed away his drink, "It's good to trust in the Lord Paulie," he said looking up at him, "But it's also good to find refuge in those who love you, and so I think right now, you really need to find your friends."<br>Paulie nodded and grabbed his keys and his phone before heading out the door.

He stood out on the porch and called Drew, "Drew?" asked Paulie.

"_Paulie! Where have you been man? I haven't seen you at all._" Said Drew.

"I can hardly here you, where are you?" asked Paulie frowning.

"_The party_!" said Drew.

"The same one?" asked Paulie, "You're still there?"  
>"<em>Yep! Next round is starting soon, so head on down<em>."

Paulie frowned, "Actually, I need to speak to you."  
>"<em>Yeah, speak to me here! Head on down<em>!"  
>"No, wait… Drew!" said Paulie.<p>

But he had already disconnected. Paulie sighed clasping up his phone.

* * *

><p>Paulie stood outside the house for 10 minutes, but couldn't bring himself to walk inside. Everybody seemed so happy, but everything around in him felt dead. He felt a buzz in his pocket and picked up the phone.<p>

"Hello?"  
>"<em>What's keeping you so long?"<em> asked Drew. "_I've been waiting ages for you, I'm almost completely sobered up_."  
>"I'm outside," said Paulie.<p>

"_Well then come in you pillock!_" said Drew.

"I can't," said Paulie looking up at the house.

"_What? Hold on, I'll come out_."  
>Paulie closed the phone, staring at the house when eventually the door opened and Drew came running out to meet him, "What's the hold up?" asked Drew.<p>

"I need to speak to you Drew," said Paulie.

"Alright then, but come on cause this party just doesn't stop, it's like a train on a circle loop, usually I'd feel like a massive dick for doing this but I've felt like that for too long, so I'm you know… letting go and then I'll slap myself tomorrow morning." Said Drew.

"It's fine then," said Paulie, "you go, I'll talk to you another day."  
>"Paulie, what's up?" he asked.<p>

"Drew… what did you feel? When your Mum died?" he asked.

Drew froze for a second, "I felt like all the light had left the world. Why are you asking?"  
>Paulie opened his mouth but then closed it along with his eyes as he started crying.<p>

"Oh Fuck…" said Drew.

As he pulled Paulie in to hug him. Paulie gripped onto his back in anger as the tears started to flow, and Drew fought back his own tears knowing exactly the pain that Paulie had right now.

"I'm going to call Dean," said Drew.

"I don't think you should," said Paulie.

"Don't worry about it," said Drew as he held the phone up to his ear, "Yeah, can you come outside quickly?"  
>Drew and Paulie waited while Paulie shuffled his feet nervously on the porch. Eventually Dean ran out, "What do you want me out here for? Some guy just arrived with a platter of fucking chocolate-chip cookies, I am losing my shit, and I don't want to miss one minute, I bet you anything there's skunk inside…" He looked over to see Paulie standing beside Drew, "Right then sailor, what are you doing here?"<br>"Dean," said Drew. He leaned in and whispered into Dean's ear.

Dean looked at Paulie and then quickly ran and gave him a bear-like hug, which Paulie embraced. "I'm so fucking sorry," said Dean, "What do you want us to do?"

"I dunno," said Paulie.

"I've got a pretty good idea," said Drew.

* * *

><p>Peter heard the key rattling at the door and stood up to go and check it. But as the door opened he saw Dean and Drew with Paulie.<p>

"Oh, hi boys," said Peter.

"It's ok Dad," said Paulie, "We'll just be upstairs… g'night."  
>"Night then," he said.<p>

"Sorry for your loss Mr. Preston," said Drew as Dean nodded with him.

The three of them walked upstairs until they got into Paulie's room. Where they placed themselves down upon the bed and couch.

Paulie walked over and turned on his Nintendo 64, the TV lighted up with the sound of Mario Kart 64 as they began to race. Potato Chips and cans of Pepsi lay on the floor throughout the night and became more numerous, as did the sound effects.

"Ah, no. No, no, no!"  
>"Yes! Serves you right for that green shell last race!"<br>"No! Blue Shell! Stop! You Dick!"  
>"Dean, stop doing that you cheat!"<br>"I hate this course! So much!"  
>"YES! WINNER!"<br>The game lasted well into the morning and Paulie couldn't have felt more at home.

* * *

><p><em>Nice little reflection as compared to 7.02 when they stopped playing video games with Paulie. A short chapter, but only a short one is needed to wrap up the story. But 7.10:Everyone is just around the corner now! The group are taking a trip with College into London to wrap up the semester, but they're ways of partying and letting loose throughout the year are gonna come back to hit them as a big conflict hits setting a chain reaction and damaging all of them, leaving us wondering if they'll ever be friends again? Chapter 1 up soon ;) <em>


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